THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 6, 1995 TAG: 9508060008
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
The Navy has canceled a proposal to close the Norfolk Naval Aviation Depot earlier than planned and will stick to its original September 1996 schedule.
Rep. Owen B. Pickett said Saturday that Adm. Jeremy Mike Boorda, the chief of naval operations, had reviewed the matter and decided not to accelerate the closing date.
Pickett, whose district includes Virginia Beach and parts of Norfolk, learned last month that the Navy was reviewing its upcoming depot workload to determine whether it could save money by closing the Norfolk NADEP in April 1996.
Pickett called the Navy's move ``ill advised'' and met with Boorda on July 18. Boorda agreed then to review the matter.
About 2,400 employees still remain at the Norfolk NADEP, located at Norfolk Naval Air Station. It was ordered closed by the 1993 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.
The decision to keep to the original schedule, said Pickett, ``will enhance naval readiness by ensuring availability of components for F-14 aircraft, will fulfill commitments to NADEP employees by retaining the original closure date, and allow ample time to safely transfer F-14 component work to NADEP Jacksonville.''
``Accelerating the closing date would have been disruptive of the plans and family schedules of many loyal NADEP employees who relied on the original date and elected to stay here because of their commitments to the Navy and the F-14 program,'' he said.
``It's tough enough to know you are going to lose your job without suffering the indignity of being pushed out the door early.''
Since the closing was announced, the Navy has begun to shift its F-14 work, along with what is left of the dwindling A-6 Intruder work, to the NADEP at Jacksonville, Fla. A number of Norfolk NADEP employees have moved to Jacksonville, as well.
For more than 77 years, it employed up to 4,500 civilian defense workers who were responsible in later years mainly for repair and maintenance on the F-14 Tomcat fighter and A-6 Intruder medium-attack bomber. It also provides engineering, manufacturing, field technical assistance and other support. by CNB